January 22nd: Beech's Dark Chocolate Coffee Creams

Hot off the back of their ChocolateMission debut last month our pals over at Beech's Fine Chocolates couldn't wait to place us with some more samples from their range. As we informed you in December Beech's have been around for an incredible 94 years and have heritage stemming from their first establishment back in 1920!! After getting our lips around their delightful chocolate covered Brazil Nuts - See HERE they thought it only right they send across another of their famous offerings - Beech's Dark Chocolate Coffee Creams.

Kcal 39 Fat 1.1g Fat(sats) 0.6g Carbs 7.1g (per cream)

Given we have full license to say what we wish about their products (a requirement of any brand featuring on the site!!), we were surprised they were bold enough to send such an audience splitting product. Coffee Creams are almost the Marmite of the chocolate world - you either love them or hate them and its not exactly uncommon to hear them described as the 'uneaten horrible ones' left gracing the Christmas Cadbury Roses tins come January time. Luckily the ChocolateMission team has their own chocolate coffee expert (well he likes to think of himself as an expert anyway :-P ) ChocolateMission site finder Jim was given the task of trying out Beech's Coffee Creams ... here are his thoughts.

Beech's sent across a few packs of their 150.0g Dark Chocolate Coffee Creams that you can find on their website HERE. The box had a nice classical style design to it which was fitting for the nature of the brand given it's understated heritage and history. The chocolates inside were the size of 50 pence pieces, relatively flat but with lighter coloured fondant innards that stood out clearly from the thickset dark chocolate exteriors. The smells emanating from the box indicated a strong coffee essence influence and this was exactly what shone through in the taste. The 55% cocoa dark chocolate was just about the right strength to contrast the sweeter centres and fast established an unsweetened, earthy chocolate flavour hit as it melted in the mouth. As this non-bitter taste was established the sweeter fondant centres came in to play and quickly balanced the taste with its own sugary influence. The fondant was sweet but had a delightful roasted coffee bean edge that brought both depth and flavour progression to every mouthful. These weren't chocolates suitable for any means of mass consumption but as a little sweetener to have alongside a strong end of meal drink or coffee they were a perfect pairing.

Overall fans can rest assured that if they are looking for an all year round coffee cream offering these Beech's Dark Chocolate Coffee Creams are more than adequate fulfilling desires. They deliver on both chocolate quality and coffee fondant fronts and leave you as the consumer feeling satisfied that needs have been met for both. Because both our experiences with Beech's so far have been so positive we are still scratching our heads a little as to why they aren't a bigger, more well renowned brand here in the UK.They obviously have a philosophy of sticking to what they know and they seem to have great knowledge of how to create great tasting chocolate fondants. These Beech's Dark Chocolate Coffee Creams were far superior to any we had tried before and we would urge you to give them a try if you are a fan. Let us know what you think of them @ChocMission we would love to hear from you.